Speaking before Bella Italia Mia at the Maspeth Public Library

Mario Fratti, Playwright Where Italy Meets America This is sparkling conversation from Italy's sharpest wit, who by the way, has lived in New York City's Broadway district for decades. Recorded live at the Maspeth Public Library, May 2000. We enter as the audience has finished singing two Italian language songs, one an anthem, the other, a soldiers drinking song. Mario is introduced, and as the sound track starts, he is commenting on how the audience's activity reminds him of World War II Italy.     Enjoy Running Time 32 minutes

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Sketches by Ina Jay

Mario Fratti by Ina Jay Who is Mario Fratti? Well the basics are; he was born in Italy, but has been a resident of New York City since 1963. He has written many plays that have been produced all over the world. To name a few, Young Wife, Mothers and Daughters, Dolls No More, Leningrad, Six Passionate Women---do you get the feeling this is a man who likes to write about women? But wait, there is also, The Cage, The Refrigerators, The Bridge; these and other plays have been performed in more than six hundred theaters in nineteen languages---but what he is most celebrated for is the musical Nine, Fratti's adaptation of Fellini's film 8 1/2. Nine won many awards including the Richard Rodgers Award, the O'Neill Selection Award, Drama Desk Awards, and others, the list is quite long. And if you carefully listen to him as he talks with an audience---you will understand about the comic genius of Mario Fratti. My personal feeling is if he ever decides to take the stage in one of his own works---he will reach even greater acclaim as a performance artist. There is no one quite like Mario Fratti. August 2001